Best Occupational Therapy Assistant programs in New York, ranked by enrollment
Assist occupational therapists in providing occupational therapy treatments and procedures.
11 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 109 people a year. The job pays a median of $68,530 in New York across about 2,230 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New York that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
1 programs in New York that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New York (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New York page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 51.0803In New York → | 109 | 100.0% | 11 | $29,507 | $11,000 |
Top 11 schools in New York
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 9 of the 11 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CUNY LaGuardia Community College Long Island City, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $40,463 | 24% | — | — |
| 2 | Maria College of Albany Albany, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $36,742 | 30% | $16,991 | 44% |
| 3 | Orange County Community College Middletown, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $51,727 | 25% | — | — |
| 4 | Suffolk County Community College Selden, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | — | 29% | — | — |
| 5 | Mercy University Dobbs Ferry, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $39,267 | 46% | $17,604 | 86% |
| 6 | Bryant & Stratton College - Syracuse North Liverpool, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $32,115 | 32% | $14,512 | — |
| 7 | Jamestown Community College Jamestown, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $28,624 | 40% | — | — |
| 8 | Rockland Community College Suffern, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | — | 29% | — | — |
| 9 | Erie Community College Buffalo, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $32,890 | 28% | — | — |
| 10 | Villa Maria College Buffalo, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $31,909 | 31% | $14,260 | 87% |
| 11 | Bryant & Stratton College - Greece Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Occupational Therapist Assistant | $32,115 | 10% | $14,664 | — |
All 11 schools in New York
Every school in New York with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CUNY LaGuardia Community College | Long Island City | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Maria College of Albany | Albany | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| Orange County Community College | Middletown | Public | 15 | 1 |
| Suffolk County Community College | Selden | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Mercy University | Dobbs Ferry | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| Bryant & Stratton College - Syracuse North | Liverpool | Private not-for-profit | 8 | 1 |
| Jamestown Community College | Jamestown | Public | 8 | 1 |
| Rockland Community College | Suffern | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Erie Community College | Buffalo | Public | 3 | 1 |
| Villa Maria College | Buffalo | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 1 |
| Bryant & Stratton College - Greece | Rochester | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What occupational therapy assistants earn in New York
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $72,300. New York pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in New York
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Occupational Therapy Assistants page.
How to become a Occupational Therapy Assistant
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- Associate's degree
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in New York
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Occupational Therapy Assistants1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0803Occupational Therapist Assistant
Common questions
Answers for people weighing occupational therapy assistants programs in New York.
What degree do you need to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant?+
Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Occupational Therapist Assistant, which awarded 109 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Occupational Therapy Assistant?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Allied Health and Medical Assisting Services. Together they graduate about 109 people a year in New York.
How much do occupational therapy assistants earn in New York?+
The median is $68,530 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 5.2% below the U.S. median of $72,300. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for occupational therapy assistants growing?+
BLS projects a +19.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 7,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+
11 institutions in New York reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do occupational therapy assistants work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA), Licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant (LOTA), Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA), Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant (COTA) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 31-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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